February 2009
1 post
2 tags
It's all fun and games
My team likes to play little silly games. Ok, I admit, I like to play little silly games at work. Why? I like to work in a fun and engaging atmosphere. It enhances collaboration and communication. It builds trust.
One cool way to do build a team culture is to make up some games. No single game is going to fit every team. First, you have to observe how your team works: what do they find funny?...
2 tags
The eight hour burn
Chad Fowler’s book “My job went to India” is a must read. One of the chapters that I enjoy is the eight-hour burn.
It all started when Extreme Programming introduced the concept that team members should work no more than 40 hour per week. Probably tagged as one of the most controversial practices of XP.
Of course! The idea does not go well with Management. How can management...
3 tags
Adopting Test Driven Development through...
Actually, if I back off the TDD subject for a second, how do you motivate people to do their job in a different way? Let’s put aside the fact that the “new” way of doing work might be better than the “old” way. Maybe it’s just a “different” way with the same results… so, let’s find a stupid example.
<drama> I work in a burger...
4 tags
This team is mine! My precious...
They’re my programmers, my analysts, they’re mine! Mine!! My precious!
I hear it sometimes during meetings or casual conversations in the hallway. Scrum masters talking about their team like they are showing off geek blink.
The tone of their voice is imperialist. You could tell that they can fix “the hot issue of the day” by commanding their troops to the urgent task;...
2 tags
Collecting metrics helps you improve or are you...
I normally agree with the fact that collecting metrics helps you with measuring your steps towards a goal. Tracking your progress with several checkpoints along the way and revise your plan accordingly. But as long as the metrics are simple and require no complicated work to get them.
Focusing more time on thinking about the collection of the right metrics or the “ideal” metrics take...